Saratoga Arms Fair debate heats up

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- City Public Safety Commissioner Christian Mathiesen has joined a contentious gun show debate by asking dealers not to display the kind of semi-automatic rifle used in the Newtown, Conn., mass murders.

Petitions are circulating by those who oppose and support the upcoming Saratoga Springs Arms Fair, slated for Jan. 12-13 at the City Center.

Mathiesen plans to introduce a resolution at Wednesday's City Council meeting that says, "This Council respectfully urges all exhibitors at the City Center gun show in January to refrain from exhibiting semi-automatic weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines of the type used in the Newtown tragedy."

Saratoga Arms Fair promoter David Petronis of Mechanicville already asked dealers not to prominently display rifles similar to the AR-15 that Adam Lanza used to slay 26 people, including 20 young children, in Newtown.

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However, the Spa City suddenly finds itself in the crosshairs of a national gun control debate.

Last week, Susan Steer of Saratoga Springs created a petition on the website change.org asking the City Center board of directors to cancel the show. She said its timing is inappropriate so soon after the Newtown shooting.

A few days later, gun owner and National Rifle Association member Robert LeClair of Hudson Falls created another petition in support of the show. It, too, is found at change.org.

"I just felt it was important to present an opposing view," he said.

LeClair said he is willing to meet with gun-show opponents at 9 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 12, at the show to "lead them around and educate them" about various weapons.

"I think some people don't fully understand what they're standing against," he said.

More than 1,000 people have signed both petitions on either side of this divisive issue.

The City Council, even if it approves Mathiesen's resolution, has no control over events held at the City Center. The city owns the building but leases it to Saratoga Springs City Center Authority, a separate entity.

The mayor appoints members to the authority board, but the City Council also must approve them.

The authority operates and maintains the center and books and markets events held there.

Mathiesen said he would ask the City Council to pass a resolution in the future to eliminate the gun shows or "not to have these types of guns" sold at them.

The resolution, drafted by city attorney Tony Izzo, was left intentionally vague about specific types of weapons. It generally refers to "weapons that can be used to cause great harm and great damage," Mathiesen said.

"I think we all know what we're talking about," he said. "It's sort of like pornography -- you know it when you see it."

Petronis has held several Arms Fairs each year at the center since it opened in 1984, plus other events, such as antiques shows. The January show begins Friday evening, Jan. 11, with a private session for dealers only.

The public show is Saturday, Jan. 12, and Sunday, Jan. 13.

A group called Saratoga Peace Alliance is seeking the city's approval to demonstrate outside the show Saturday.

City Center President Mark E. Baker says the show can't be canceled because the center has already signed a legally binding, $6,750 contract with Petronis to host it. Contracts for three other Arms Fairs in March, August and October also have been approved, he said.

"This is the first time anything of this nature has ever happened," he said of the City Council resolution. "The sales and marketing of the center has never been questioned. I'm sure the City Center Authority would take counsel from the City Council."

But he said state legislation, which created the City Center Authority, clearly gives the center responsibility for what takes place there.

"Everybody has a right to come together for their cause or their event," he said.

The center's mission is to fill local hotel rooms and promote and support downtown business. The Arms Fair has about 80 dealers from throughout the Northeast and typically attracts a few thousand visitors.

Economic studies indicate that non-lodging guests spend about $90 per day for things such as gas, food and shopping purchases during visits to Saratoga Springs.

Petronis says the Arms Fair has contributed "millions" to the local economy during its nearly three decades in the city.

However, opponents say that certain types of weapons pose too costly a threat to public safety.